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Antihistamine Database
Allegra (Fexofenadine; Aventis) Prescription ONLY Prescribing Info Source A | Prescribing Information Source B Official Website - patient oriented; explains allergies General Information Medline Search Compare Prices
Allegra D = Allegra + Decongestant combination tablet; Aventis Allegra D 12-hr prescribing Info | Allegra D 24-hr prescribing info Allegra D 12 -hr general information Allegra D 24-hr general information Official Website; patient oriented; allergy resources Compare prices
Astelin (Azelastine Hydrochloride) prescription antihistamine in nasal spray form; Prescribing Information - PDF File; takes a minute to load Astelin.com - Official website; very nicely done General Information Medline Search Google Search
Clarinex (Desloratadine; Schering-Plough) Prescription ONLY Prescribing Information - PDF File; takes a minute to load Clarinex.com - Official website; very nicely done General Information Picture Of Clarinex Pill Medline Search Google Search Compare prices
Clarinex D 12 hour (Desloratadine + decongestant in the same tablet; Schering-Plough) Prescription ONLY Prescribing information General information Patient Information
Clarinex D 24 Hour (Desloratadine + decongestant in the same tablet; Schering-Plough) Prescription ONLY Prescribing information General information
Claritin (Loratidine; Schering-Plough) Available Over The Counter as of 12/02 Prescribing Info Official Website - Claritin.com General Information Medline Search
Claritin D = Claritin + decongestant combination tablet; Schering Plough 12 hr: Prescribing Info | General Information 24 hr :Prescribing Info Source A | General Information
Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) Over-The-Counter Patient Information General Information Prescribing Information Benadryl.com
Palgic (carbinoxamine maleate) Pamlab Patient Information General Information Prescribing Information Palgic.com
SOLTARA (tecastemizole Sepracor) Soltara was (is) a metabolite of astemizole (HISMANAL®, Johnson & Johnson), a nonsedating antihistamine that was withdrawn from the US Market in 1999 due to safety concerns FDA said that Soltara was not approvable as of 3/02 Sepracor drops Soltara drug; newspaper article 12/2003 Scientific papers on Soltare (tecastemizole)
Xyzal (Levocetirizine UCB) Prescribing Info Official Website General Information Medline Search Compare Prices
Zyrtec-Cetirizine - No Prescription Needed Prescribing Info Official Website - patient oriented; explains allergies; how Zyrtec helps. General Information Patient Information Medline Search Official Website - patient oriented; explains allergies; how Zyrtec helps. Compare Prices
Zyrtec D = Zyrtec + decongestant combination tablet; UCB/Pfizer Prescribing Info | Prescribing Info Source B Patient Information General Information Official Website - patient oriented; explains allergies; how Zyrtec helps. Compare prices
Antihistamines are interesting compounds. Structurally, classical antihistamines resemble local anesthetics such as benzocaine or novacaine.
How Do Antihistamines work?
Antihistamines are the antidote to exposure to histamine. As their name implies, antihistamines are able to block the effects of histamine in your body. [You should think of antihistamines as being the bouncer at a club].
When histamine molecules get onto the surface of the cell, they cause inflammation and irritation.
Antihistamines displace the histamine molecules from the cell and form a protective shield around the cells so that histamine can not interact with the cell to cause an allergic reaction.
Example
Let's say that you are allergic to the perfume in a lotion, but you get some on your skin by accident. You break out in an itchy rash where the lotion touched your skin.
What is happening is that the perfume in the lotion caused the cells in your body to release histamine. The histamine gets onto the surface of your skin cells and causes an itchy rash. What do you do?
You take a dose of antihistamine such as Benadryl (diphenhydramine) or Allegra (fexofenidine). The antihistamine acts like a bouncer. It kicks the histamine off of the skin cells and prevents the histamine from reacting to cause inflammation, redness and itch.
Within minutes the rash should subside and the itching go away.
What is histamine and why is it bad?
When you get an allergic reaction, a cascade of events takes place in your body that results in the release of a substance know as " histamine" . You can think of histamine as being the " bad guy" in an allergic reaction.
Histamine causes inflammation. Histamine is very irritating to the body. If you injected a tiny bit of pure histamine into your skin, the result is that you would likely see a welt or a rash.
When you are exposed to something that you are allergic to, the resulting release of histamine can cause in an itchy rash, a welt, itchy eyes, watery eyes, a runny nose, etc.
There is a severe, life threatening form of allergic reaction known as anaphylactic shock.
For instance, if you are highly allergic to something like peanuts or enicillin, and you are exposed to this thing that you are allergic to, your body can react severely.
Your tongue and throat may swell up, you may experience a severe rash all over your body and you may go into shock.
Side Effects
The most common side effect of antihistamines is drowsiness. In fact, drug companies often use antihistamines ( such as diphenhydramine or Benadryl) as an over-the-counter sleeping pill.
However, the early 1990's, scientists developed antihistamines (Allegra, Claritin) that did not cause drowsiness at the recommended doses. These drugs are expensive and were available by prescription only at first.
Zyrtec is another relatively recent antihistamine, but it is known to cause more drowsiness than Claritin or Allegra. That is why your druggist may attach a drowsiness warning label to your bottle of Zyrtec.
Other Uses Of Antihistamines
The other main use of antihistamines is to cause sleepiness.
Drug makers add a small amount of antihistamine (usually 25 mg or 50 mg of diphenhydramine, the active ingredient in Benadryl) to pain killers and call the resulting concoction the "PM" version of the drug.
For example, Tylenol PM is simply tylenol with a pinch of antihistamine added to induce sleepiness. Midol PM is Midol with a pinch of antihistamine added to cause drowsiness.
There is also Excedrin PM, Anacin PM, Legatrin PM, etc.
Editors' Suggestions:
You may be interested in visiting:
American Academy Of Family Practice Physicians report regarding antihistamines: description of, warnings, etc.
Antihistamines, Decongestants, and Analgesics (Systemic) -- Mayo Clinic; list of, description, doses of, etc.
ENT Information
News Related to Allergies - (from Google)
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